Cabinet door



. April 1957 R- c. SANDIN 3,313,665

CABINET DOOR Filed June 14, 1965 zgjj 1 [WI 41 W 1 W Z? m i 302;? i

29 5 A'horney United States Patent.

3,313,065 CABINET DOOR Raymond C. Sandin, Winnetka, 111., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,830 2 Claims. (Cl. 49-460) This invention relates to doors for cabinets, and more particularly to doors for cabinets of the double wall type, such as refrigerators, wherein the door is particularly suited to be decoratively finished.

There is a growing attentiveness to the aesthetic appeal of cabinets, which are primarily utilitarian in nature. For instance, kitchen cabinets have for some years been going through a change where, more and more, they are intended to look like attractive furniture of the type found in other rooms in the home rather than to have the somewhat stark antiseptic appearance previously deemed desirable. More recently, appliances themselves have been undergoing the same change, with a substantial effort being made to give the appliances the appearance of furniture. In some cases this has proven to be quite a problem. For instance, in the case of refrigerators, the fact that a substantial amount of insulation is a prerequisite means that the cabinet structure is always of the double wall type. This includes the door which is necessarily, in order to prevent substantial leakage of the cold refrigerated air, made of spaced inner and outer walls with insulation between them.

Generally, a decorative handle is provided for opening and closing of the door. Because of the substantial separation of the inner and outer walls of the refrigerator, and the presence of insulation between them, this handle is secured, from the inside thereof, to the outer door wall only. Necessarily, this is a process carried out at the factory. The need for a handle, and the need for assembling the handle at the factory, has placed substantial difficulties in the way of achieving, with any reasonable degree of economy, a decorative appearance for refrigerator doors.

To date, the solution has been the rather straightforward approach of providing a decorative finish notwithstanding the handle, and notwithstanding the added expense involved in having a number of substantially different appearances provided for what normally is a mass-production item. Thus, while attractive finishes have been achieved, nonetheless, the increased expense of a refrigerator having the decorative appearance-compared to the identical model without a decorative appearance-has proven very sizable, running to 50 percent more in the market place. Because of such expense, there has been some hesitation on the part of purchasers.

Another factor leading to reluctance on the part of purchasers is the permanence of the decorative appearances presently available. Where a large expenditure is involved, purchasers are very conscious of the fact that if they move to another house the decorative appearance may not be suitable; or, if they wish to redecorate their kitchen, again the decorative appearance of the refrigerator may not be suitable.

It therefore is highly desirable to provide a door for refrigerators which satisfies the aesthetic requirements mentioned above, yet which has'little additional expense over plain, undecorated doors of a similar nature and.

which avoids the difficulty that the appearance cannot be changed.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a cabinet door wherein an aesthetically pleasing and decorative appearance may be achieved with a simple construction in which, while it will cost something more than an absolutely plain door, the advantages achieved will greatly outweigh the minor added cost.

Patented Apr. 11, 1967 It is a further object of my invention to provide a cabinet door wherein the appearance of the door may be quickly, easily and economically changed at the will of the owner of the cabinet.

In one aspect thereof, my invention is applied to a cabinet door of the type having inner and outer walls secured together in spaced relation, with the handle being secured to the outer wall adjacent one side edge. A first combination decorative and retaining strip is secured to the outer wall extending from top to bottom thereof on the side of the handle remote from the aforementioned side edge. Second, third and fourth decorative and retaining strips are secured to the door adjacent the other side edge, the top and the bottom respectively.

At least the second strip is secured in removable fashion so that, in very short order, the owner of the cabinet may remove the strip. I prefer, though, to make the second, third and fourth strips integral and secured to each other, so that they are removable together. The four strips, together, are cooperatively effective to frame and retain a rectangular panel secured against the outerwall of the door. When the second strip is removed, a panel may be removed and a different one inserted.

What this does, in effect, is to provide a very economical means of giving a decorative effect to the front of a cabinet door having spaced inner and outer walls. The rectangular panel may either be of thin plywood of the conventional type, about three-sixteenths or one-quarter inch thick, or it may be made from one of the decorative laminated plastics now available in literally hundreds of designs. It can readily be seen that the provision of a second panel when the owner of the cabinet wants to change the first panel is a matter of very small expense and very little effort. It has further been found, as claimed in my application Ser. No. D. 85,735, filed June 14, 1965, now Design Patent No. 203,718, issued Feb. 8, 1966, entitled Refrigerated Cabinet, and assigned to the same assignee as this application, that the decorative effect is enhanced by the fact that the handle of the door is set off in a narrow panel with a plain background, with a wider panel of decorative background being provided next to it and separated from it by the vertically extending first strip.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. My invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a cabinet having the improved door of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 1, illustrating the manner of changing decorative panels which my invention makes possible;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of my invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, there is shown a cabinet l which, while it is not particularly marked as being for that purpose, may well be of the type used for domestic refrigerators. The front of the cabinet is closed by a pair of doors 2 and 3, provided with appropriate hinges as shown at 4. The provision of a double-door structure including relatively small door 2 and a relatively large door 3 represents an increasingly popular style for refrigerator cabinets: the freezer compartment of the refrigerator is closed by the door 2, and the fresh food compartment of the cabinet is closed by door 3, with appropriate separations and structural diiferentiation (not shown) being provided within the cabinet to effect the different functions.

Each door is formed, as shown in FIGURE 4, with an outer wall 5 and an inner wall 6. One conventional means for achieving thisvstructure is to form the outer wall of sheet steel and bend the ends of it over into edges, or flanges, 7 and 7a. The flanges, in turn, are bent inwardly into reentrant flanges 8 and 9 at their ends. Flanges 7 and 7a thus provide the edge surfaces of the double walled door.

The inner wall 6 is preferably formed of an insulating material such as plastic, which is rigidly secured to the reentrant flanges 8 and 9 by any suitable means such as threaded members 10. Conventionally, and particularly in the case of refrigerators, a suitable gasket member 11 is provided and this gasket may also be secured both to the reentrant flanges 8 and 9 and to the edge of inner wall 6 by the same threaded members 10. While any suitable type of gasketing may be used, it is common in present day refrigerators to use a gasket having a magnetic material therein as shown at 12, thereby eliminating the necessity for a special latch. It will, however, be understood that the use of a magnetic gasket or of a latch forms no part of this invention, and that the invention is equally applicable regardless of what type of securement means is used to hold the door in close-d position.

It will also be understood that it is common in refrigerators to form the inner wall 6 with shelving suitable for receiving various articles such as bottles, butter, eggs, etc., and that the showing of inner wall 6 as a flat surface is simply to avoid unnecessary complexity in the drawing.

Where the door is being used in connection with a refrigerator cabinet, the space between inner wall 6 and outer wall 5 will conventionally be filled with insulation. This may be of any suitable type, such as, for instance,

foam insulation, glass fiber insulation, etc.

Continuing to refer to FIGURE 4, in conjunction with FIGURES l and 2, it can be seen that appropriate handles 12 and 13 are provided for permitting a user to open and close the doors 2 and 3, respectively. In connection with door 2, shown in FIGURE 4, it can very readily be seen that handle 12 is rigidly and permanently secured to the door by any suitable means which, in the present case, takes the form of threaded fasteners such as that shown at 14. The fasteners are threaded into the door 12 itself from the inside surface of the outer wall 5. This may be done either prior to or after provision of the insulation between the inner and outer walls. For instance, in the case of foam insulation, an appropriate hole may be-cut through the insulation from the inside to permit the screw 14 to be tightened into the handle 12; then the hole in the foam insulation may be filled with fiber glass insulation.

It will, of course, be understood that with the particular shape of the handles 12 and 13 shown, at least.

two screws should be provided, one at the top and one at the bottom of each handle. It will further be noted that the handles, in the preferred embodiment shown, extend in a vertical direction. This permits them to take up a relatively small amount of the horizontal space across the front of the door while still permitting aesthetically attractive designs for the handle to be provided.

Still referring to door 2 in FIGURE 4, a decorative strip 15 is positioned extending vertically from top to bottom of the door. The strip is positioned adjacent handle 12, on the opposite side of the handle from the edge 7 of the door. Strip 15 is preferably secured to the surface of outer wall 5 of the door in substantially thesame manner as handle 12, i.e., by the provision of a number of suitably spaced threaded members 16, which are threaded from the inside surface of outer wall 5 into the strip 15 itself. It is to be observed that the vertically extending strip 15 causes the handle 12 to be located on a rectangular surface 17 which is quite narrow in the horizontal direction and extends the full height of the door.

The strip 15 has a rabbet 18 formed therein so that when the strip is secured to' wall 5, as shown in FIG- URE 4, a groove 19 is formed by the ra-bbeted portion 18 of strip 15 and the wall 5 itself.

A trim strip 20 is provided with a generally L-shaped cross section, with the upright part of the L being formed as surface 21 and the base part of the L as surface 22. Surface 21 is intended to cover the major portion of the edge 7a of the door. Surface 21 is provided with several openings 23, through which threaded members 24 may be passed, to provide securement of member 20 to the door. Threaded members 24 may be of the selfthreading type so that no special threaded opening need be provided but rather the member 24 will form the threads in the opening as it is screwed in. The head of each member 24 is preferably flat, so that when the member is completely screwed in the head thereof forms, in essence, part of surface 21. The trim strip 20 is held against the edge of the door 2 in such a way that portion 22 thereof is spaced from the front of the door, thereby providing a groove 25 of substantially the same width as groove 19 provided by member 15.

Additional trim strips 26 and 27 are provided in the same relation to the top and bottom edges of door 2 as strip 21 is to the side edge, and are fastened in the same way, as shown. Of course, sinoethere will generally be some type of hinge means, such as hinge 4, in cooperative relationship with the door, at the top and bottom thereof, suitable recesses such as recess 30 may be provided so that the trim strips may be slipped on and olf the door without interference from the hinge.

While it is not critical to the broadest aspect of my invention, I prefer'to form strips 20, 26 and 27 as a single integral part, preferably an extruded one, for the sake of best appearance, and to cut away and bend the part at the top and bottom corners so as to provide a smooth curvature at the corners. Of course, in the same manner that strip 20 provided groove 25 in cooperation with the wall 5, strips 26 and 27 cooperate with wall 5 to provide similar grooves. I prefer to form strip 15 so that it extends slightly above and below the top and bottom edges of the door, and then is bent over to extend across those edges as shown. Strips 26 and 27 may then very readily be formed at their ends adjacent strip 5 to provide a smooth junction therewith.

With the decorative trim strips provided as described, it is then a simple matter to insert a decorative panel 28 so that it lies flat against the rectangular portion 29 of wall 5 which lies within the trim strips. Panel 28 has its edges held by the four trim strips, and may be readily inserted by removal of strip 20. Where strips 26 and 27 are integral with strip 20, then, of course, all three will come off together. Or, alternatively, if they are separate pieces, strip 20 is the only one which is removed by removal of the threaded members24. In any event, it is a matter of a few minutes to provide a decorative panel 28, in position and properly secured. It is further a matter of the same length of time to change one decorative panel 28 for another. This may be required where, for instance, the user of the cabinet tires of the particular decorative appearance of a panel 28, redecorates her kitchen, or moves to another home which requires a difierent decorative effect.

One type of decorative panel which may be readily used is the standard quarter-inch plywood, which is presently available, both in a number of decorative wood finishes and also in an unfinished condition so that a decorative finish may be selected by the user of the cabinet. Further, it is, of course, possible to provide any of the laminated plastics presently commercially available which have decorative motifs on one side thereof. Further, any other sheet of relatively rigid material susceptible of. having a decorative effect provided on one side thereof may be provided. It will be observed that the door 2, with panel 28 in place, consists of a relatively wide decorated section extending vertically from top to bottom, together with a relatively narrow section extending from top to bottom, having preferably a plain background, within which the handle 12 is secured.

It will further be noted that the particular arrangement described permits the elimination of strips 20, 26 and 27 completely; in such a case, a relatively plain refrigerator, with the single decorative strip 15, is provided. Where this is done it is, of course, a simple matter to insert small, plain filler members in the screw holes.

While in accordance with the patent statutes, I have described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is therefore aimed in the appended claims to cover all such equivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A cabinet door comprising:

(a) inner and outer walls secured together in spaced relation;

(b) a handle secured to said outer wall substantially adjacent a first side edge thereof;

(c) a first combination decorative and retaining strip secured to said outer Wall and extending slightly above the top and below the bottom edges of said door adjacent said handle on the side thereof removed from said first side edge;

(d) said first strip being configured to retain one edge of a panel against said outer wall;

(e) a second combination decorative and retaining strip removably secured to said door adjacent the second side edge thereof;

(f) third and fourth decorative retaining strips removably secured to said door adjacent the top and bottom edges of said door; said third and fourth strips, respectively, being formed to provide a smooth junction with said first strip at the top and bottom of said door;

(g) said strips being cooperatively effective to frame 6 and retain a rectangular panel secured against said outer Wall, removal of said second strip permitting removal and insertion of a panel.

2. A cabinet door comprising;

(a) inner and outer walls secured together in spaced relation;

(b) a peripheral flange extending from one of said walls to the other to thereby form a peripheral edge for said door;

(c) a handle secured to said outer wall substantially adjacent a first side edge thereof;

(d) a first combination decorative and retaining strip secured to said outer wall and extending substantially from the top to the bottom edges thereof adjacent said handle on the side thereof removed from said first side edge;

(c) said first strip being configured to retain one edge of a panel against said outer wall;

(f) a second combination decorative and retaining strip removably secured to said peripheral flange forming the second side edge of said door;

(g) third and fourth decorative retaining strips removably secured to said peripheral flange forming the top and bottom edges of said doors;

(h) said second, third and fourth strips each having a substantially L-shaped configuration, the upright part thereof extending over said peripheral edge, and the base part thereof extending over said outer wall and being spaced therefrom;

(i) said strips thereby being cooperatively eifective to frame and retain a rectangular panel secured against said outer wall, removal of said second strip permitting removal and insertion of a panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,720,683 10/1955 Schwenker et a1 49-486 2,780,865 2/ 1957 Chapman et al 52615 2,787,030 4/1957 Williams 52615 2,839,793 6/1958 Fields 52-621 3,124,501 3/1964 Wise 52624 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. KENNETH DOWNEY, Examiner. 

1. A CABINET DOOR COMPRISING: (A) INNER AND OUTER WALLS SECURED TOGETHER IN SPACED RELATION; (B) A HANDLE SECURED TO SAID OUTER WALL SUBSTANTIALLY ADJACENT A FIRST SIDE EDGE THEREOF; (C) A FIRST COMBINATION DECORATIVE AND RETAINING STRIP SECURED TO SAID OUTER WALL AND EXTENDING SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE TOP AND BELOW THE BOTTOM EDGES OF SAID DOOR ADJACENT SAID HANDLE ON THE SIDE THEREOF REMOVED FROM SAID FIRST SIDE EDGE; (D) SAID FIRST STRIP BEING CONFIGURED TO RETAIN ONE EDGE OF A PANEL AGAINST SAID OUTER WALL; (E) A SECOND COMBINATION DECORATIVE AND RETAINING STRIP REMOVABLY SECURED TO SAID DOOR ADJACENT THE SECOND SIDE EDGE THEREOF; (F) THIRD AND FOURTH DECORATIVE RETAINING STRIPS REMOVABLY SECURED TO SAID DOOR ADJACENT THE TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES OF SAID DOOR; SAID THIRD AND FOURTH STRIPS, RESPECTIVELY, BEING FORMED TO PROVIDE A SMOOTH JUNCTION WITH SAID FIRST STRIP AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF SAID DOOR; (G) SAID STRIPS BEING COOPERATIVELY EFFECTIVE TO FRAME AND RETAIN A RECTANGULAR PANEL SECURED AGAINST SAID OUTER WALL, REMOVAL OF SAID SECOND STRIP PERMITTING REMOVAL AND INSERTION OF A PANEL. 